n'awlins

this is a weird city.

it doesn't feel like the united states - it is absolutely foreign. as we walk the streets, dan and i compare it to everywhere - paris, prague, dublin, bologna, the caribbean, and so on and so on. sometimes i'm surprised to hear people speaking english. like cities in other countries, you find little apartments with plants hanging off the wrought-iron balconies, above little cafes and shops. also like other cities, you find yourself crossing from a unique pseudo-french area to a pretty standard downtown, with skyscrapers and all that, back to a sort of run down commercial area, and then all of a sudden in the middle of colonial-style houses (with a slight southern, bayou edge). canal street looks a lot like san francisco and dublin, with cable car reels running down the wide street and tall buildings and hotels lining the edges. bourbon street is pretty damn close to 6th street in austin and to vegas (at the same time!) then again, there are a lot of things that are uniquely n'orleans: mardi gras beads hanging everywhere, on cable car wires and trees and balconies, blues bands everywhere (though they might not all be good), voodoo shops, and people selling tarot card readings in courtyards and parks. and of course the food and the strange, vibrant atmosphere.

it's no wonder this place is so weird. it's built in the most unlikely place - driving in, the highway is lifted above the little rivers and bayous and marshes; otherwise it's built through swamps that had to be mowed down and filled in in order to create any kind of solid ground. at another point the highway was above the lake completely - on one side there was only water, and on the other side were swamps and dead trees - ideal places for murder mysteries. i realize that this is sort of mixing up my cause and effect, but i understand why there is voodoo and tarot and stuff here - it IS kind of supernatural seeming at times, or at least eerie.

there is so much rich history here, one feels like. it's entirely different from anywhere else around, and like i said it makes no sense that it exists at all - a weird collage of culture. it's hard to believe that yesterday we were in texas.